These products, available exclusively for Avnet's HP channel partners in the U.S. and Canada, are designed to help accelerate converged infrastructure initiatives, simplify system management and improve IT performance at their end customers, said Avnet.

Converged infrastructure, also known as unified computing, is the packaging of IT components—including servers, storage and networking—in a preconfigured design. Global spending on converged systems is expected to reach $17.8 billion in 2016 at a compound annual growth rate of 54.7 percent from $2 billion in 2011, according to a November 2012 IDC report.

Avnet is not the only large IT distributor looking for a bigger piece of the growing converged infrastructure market. Arrow Electronics recently expanded its support for this market with new dedicated resources and an alliance with Intel to help solution providers leverage x86 opportunities.

The Avnet-configured HP converged infrastructure products, which provide pre-configured architecture and management models, combine HP technologies, including HP BladeSystem and HP ProLiant DL rack mount servers, HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage and HP networking. They include six scalable, ready-to-implement configurations that are optimized for small, midsize and large virtualization deployments, ranging from 96 to more than 320 virtual machines.

"Avnet has developed solutions that make it easier for our HP partners to bring converged infrastructure solutions to market by giving them tested configurations based on HP technology that they can present to their customers today," said Chris Swahn, vice president and general manager, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas, HP Solutions group. "These solutions eliminate the need for a lengthy system design process, which will help accelerate customer buying cycles, implementation times and returns on investments.”

The product offerings combine HP's world-class technologies in a single SKU (part number), simplifying the buying process so Avnet and its channel partners can focus on adding value such as software and vertical solutions, said Swahn. "We can focus on adding the management, security, big data and analytics, and other solution layers that will help solve the end user's problems. We're focused on delivering what the end user is asking for and making the entire experience a little simpler and much faster."

These converged products include HP installation and implementation services. Avnet also provides partners with optional migration and support services related to the new offerings.

"We've made it easier for our resellers to take it to the marketplace, and we can also provide the technical resources through the Avnet Technical Army to deliver additional resources such as the HP OneView management tool so we can start to address the end user's needs quicker and more spot-on."

The Avnet Technical Army can augment the channel partners' pre-sales technical staff, helping them gain more expertise about the HP products, provide tech demos, and develop configurations and systems designs.

The ultimate goal is to make our relationship−Avnet, channel partners and HP−highly effective to the end user, and the way we're going to do it is by getting to the problem," added Swahn. "The problem is not the hardware−it's how to handle the data, what to do with it and what are the answers the end user is going to get out it. That is what the end user community is looking for."

Avnet wants to make it very easy for its channel partners' end customers to buy hardware, enabling partners to focus on software, applications, workflow, and other solutions that will solve end user challenges.

Gina Roos, a Channel Insider contributing writer, specializes in technology and the channel.